Sajjad shines in Iran snooker series

Pakistan’s Shahid, Shahzad lose on the fourth day.

KARACHI:

Mohammad Sajjad struck three century breaks as Pakistan edged ahead of hosts Iran by seven points on the fourth day of the bilateral snooker series.

According to information provided by the Pakistan Snooker and Billiards Association (PBSA), Asian number two Sajjad was the country’s lone cueist who performed well on the fourth day with national champion Mohammad Shahid and Imran Shahzad failing to live up to expectations. Sajjad’s win in all his three games ensured Pakistan ended the day leading 50-43.

With Sajjad’s wins, Pakistan gathered 27 points while Shahid and Shahzad had a combined total of 23.

Sajjad beat Armin Khodaparast 6-1 courtesy breaks of 64 and 50 during the seven-frame contest. He then defeated Ehsan Hydari Nezhad 5-2 including two century breaks of 122 and 124 with the win earning him 10 points. He also struck a break of 105 against Ali Roshanikia and beat him 6-1 in his last match of the day.

“It was a hectic day but I enjoyed it,” Sajjad told The Express Tribune from Tehran. “The Iran cueists are good and I’m happy with my performance.”

Meanwhile, the story was different for the rest of the Pakistan cueists. Shahzad, the most experienced, could only manage one win and went down in the rest of his two matches. He started off well by overcoming Hossein Vafaei 4-3 but fell against Ali Roshanikia 5-2 in his second contest and then lost to Sepher Lababi 4-3 to end the day with 13 points.

Pakistan’s third cueist Shahid went down in all his three games. After a close contest in the first frame, Shahid proved a complete mismatch against Nezhad as he lost 5-2 before Babar Rostani repeated the same score-line.

The series is being played on points basis where a cueist earns one point for winning the frame and a point for scoring a 50-plus break and two for a century.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2011.